Weight Question

OGKid96

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Dec 28, 2016
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I wondering what I should do about my weight situation. I'm 205lbs, 5 feet and 11 inches which puts about 20lbs above the West Point goal but by body fat percentage in 21-22% which is close to the 20% that West Point wants or is permmissible. I wanted to take during my final year in high school either Track or Boys Volleyball but I don't know which one would be better for me to do. I also workout with my PE teacher who was a former Army Specialist every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
 
Dear OG Kid. You have worked hard on fitness this year and made tremendous strides. RUN TRACK. Run, run, run as much as you can. You cannot run enough. Being an Army officer is a lot of running--and the people you lead and the people you serve will judge you by how well you run. It will help you during Beast, it will help you at West Point. It is February. R-Day seems like a long way from now both for the weight and for the fitness. I do not know your school or your family or your resources but I would meet with your school nurse or your physician about getting an appointment with a nutritionist soon so that you can ensure you are doing the right things so that on R-Day the weigh in and tape test (body fat measurement) are not something that you are having to dread or otherwise put you at risk. So, I recommend running track. It will help with your overall level of fitness and endurance but more so it will get you some coaching on running, which is invaluable. Good luck OG.
 
Not so sure about running track. To make things easier for you at West Point during this summer, you need to lose weight and reduce your run time. Not sure what events you will do during tracking, but short distance running won't help too much. Overall, you should get professionals (nutritionist and trainers) to watch your diet (per DrMom) and doing what I will call basic Army AFPT training - push up, sit up, and run (3 miles), 4 to 5 times a week, with some cross training and increasing intensity.

It is what it is as unless you are pure muscle, the Army doesn't like 5'11" 205 lbs soldier.
 
OGKid, I just want to encourage you. Do not be discouraged. USMA picked you--and they picked you pretty early in the process so I know you are something special. Run track. Tell the coach you want to get faster--and pick events and train in ways that enable you to get a good two mile time. The running will help your BMI, too. Again, I hope you are able to get to a nutritionist so that it is not June and you are seeking advice on how to lose that last 1% of body fat. So, do not let anyone on this page discourage you.
 
Join the track team and run with the distance runners. It will force you to run every day. You goal is to burn those calories. It is not to be a track star. Don't let the coach talk you into doing the field events. Run, Run, Run. Combine that with a sensible diet and you weight will come off, but you need to work at it.

Also, do the army tape test. You can find instructions and calculators online. That is the official way the army will measure your body fat. But work on you weight so you don't even have to do the tape test.
 
My DS is 6'2, 220 football lineman and is slimming down for the CFA. He is down from 235 using a paleo diet, running (3 miles) 4 days a week, and working out 5 days a week, 2 of those days with 2 workouts. His overall muscle mass is increasing, but body fat is sinking like a stone. I say all that to show ya big guys can run with the best of the smaller guys too ;-)

Keep up the good work, set yourself some goals, use a fitbit if you can get one- number driven results will help you see your improvement.
 
I wondering what I should do about my weight situation. I'm 205lbs, 5 feet and 11 inches which puts about 20lbs above the West Point goal but by body fat percentage in 21-22% which is close to the 20% that West Point wants or is permmissible. I wanted to take during my final year in high school either Track or Boys Volleyball but I don't know which one would be better for me to do. I also workout with my PE teacher who was a former Army Specialist every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Distance track....distance track will get you looking like a skeleton if you don't eat enough (take it from me, my track coach looks like a walking corpse because he doesn't eat). You wanna lose weight, distance track is the key.
 
While running is great, not all running is equal for weight loss. Probably the best thing to do is mix up the runs. There are some great fitness bands that, when combined with a smart phone, may help you with your goals.
1. If you have hills near you, running hills in general increases weight loss by about 10%. Also, USMA has hills (Stony Lonesome). So get use to them.
2. LSD's. Long, Slow, Distance. At first don't worry how far you are going, but worry more about how long you run. Try and get to being able to run 2 hours. If you get to the point where you can run 90 minutes you increase the ability of your body to burn fat.
3. Intervals. These will help your 2 mile run time which is not a long distance run. Do 220s, 440s and 880s. The goal is to increase your VO2 max.
4. Fartleks. Fartlek is Swedish for "This sucks". Actually it means speed play and it is a "fast/slow" interval run. I use a timer on my smart phone. I set it for 15 seconds on, 45 off. You can use visual markers as well. You want to sprint for about 50 meters (or 15 seconds in my case), then recover with a jog, or in my case I jog for 45 seconds. Do this for about 45 minutes. This will also help with your 2 mile run.

Burpee w/ pushup. They suck. But one of the most effective exercises for weight loss. You can mix them in with intervals for a great work out. Run a 220/440, rest for a minute, do 10-15 burpees. Rest a minute. Repeat.
 
While running is great, not all running is equal for weight loss. Probably the best thing to do is mix up the runs. There are some great fitness bands that, when combined with a smart phone, may help you with your goals.
1. If you have hills near you, running hills in general increases weight loss by about 10%. Also, USMA has hills (Stony Lonesome). So get use to them.
2. LSD's. Long, Slow, Distance. At first don't worry how far you are going, but worry more about how long you run. Try and get to being able to run 2 hours. If you get to the point where you can run 90 minutes you increase the ability of your body to burn fat.
3. Intervals. These will help your 2 mile run time which is not a long distance run. Do 220s, 440s and 880s. The goal is to increase your VO2 max.
4. Fartleks. Fartlek is Swedish for "This sucks". Actually it means speed play and it is a "fast/slow" interval run. I use a timer on my smart phone. I set it for 15 seconds on, 45 off. You can use visual markers as well. You want to sprint for about 50 meters (or 15 seconds in my case), then recover with a jog, or in my case I jog for 45 seconds. Do this for about 45 minutes. This will also help with your 2 mile run.

Burpee w/ pushup. They suck. But one of the most effective exercises for weight loss. You can mix them in with intervals for a great work out. Run a 220/440, rest for a minute, do 10-15 burpees. Rest a minute. Repeat.
I'm don't know running terminology that well so what is 220/440 and VO2 max?
 
I'm don't know running terminology that well so what is 220/440 and VO2 max?

Sorry.
220 yard, or half a lap.
440 yard or a full lap, 1/4 mile.
VO2 max is a measurement of the maximum amount of O2 you can utilize during intense exercise, such as pushing yourself on a 2 mile run.
 
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Great reply blackhawk. Interval runs, sprints, burpees, hiit workouts, even weight training using supersets (example bench press/planks 3 to 4 sets then move to military press/tricep extensions) are very effective for weight loss. If you do long steady pace runs make them fartleks. Simply running long runs will not equate to the most effective route to weight loss.. The key is getting your heart rate up....best of luck! Forgot to add one last thing. Most effective weight loss is done in the kitchen. I am not making any assumptions nor am I trying to make any insinuations. Simply put, all the exercise in the world will not lead to weight loss if you are eating too many calories outside of exercise.
 
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OK Kid, did you sign up for Track? How is it going? The training season just started in our area.
 
DS is still busting his tail 5 days a week. 2.5 miles M/W/F, weight training with supersets every afternoon, Football agility and fitness T/Th, and a half hour of jump rope before dinner. 6 this week with a fun color run. Weight holding steady this week but he weighs in Monday.

Nutrition is huge. DS has Food Prep Sunday where he prepares clean meals for lunches (youtube foodprep sunday), paleo low carb breakfasts, and dinner is sensible. Nuts, fruit and bison bars for snacks, and protein shakes after workouts. In total, he tracks a 2,000-2500 calorie deficit a day using a fitbit surge.

He also challenged his congressional intern supervisor to a daily push-up challenge, and they're taking turns between phone calls and meetings getting their reps. Hah!

DS calls this his 2nd fulltime job- but he loves every minute of it, except the eating- lol.
 
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Run, man, all day. I ran in high school, and one of the guys who joined with me lost over 30 pounds his first month of running - it seemed really unhealthy, but he's fine. Running is great for you, just make sure you're running distance. (As in, 3-7 miles.)
 
Just to give some specifics about what JWP wrote as far as the kitchen.
I won't get into specific foods except sugar. We could spend all day about other stuff, many opinions, guidance can change (as with salt intake). But there is universal agreement with sugar. Cut it down. For example, if you drink sweet tea and really need it, try getting unsweat, then add your own sugar. Sweaten it less than you normally drink it. Better yet, switch to water. Use sugar very sparingly and as a treat.
Portions. Again, there is universal agreement with this. If you go out to eat look at the portion. Cut it in half. That is a normal serving size based upon your height. As an example, if my family of four gets takeout Chinese food we get two meals and one appetizer for four people.
Use that same portion size eating at home. If you are use to eating about the amount you would get eating out, cut the portion in half.
Cut down on bread. If you really need a cheeseburger, take off half the bun and eat it as an open face sandwich. Really need fries? Get the small or kids portion or split it. Again, if my wife and I do indulge in fast food we split a small fries. Enough to feed our weakness, but still keep down on the calories.
 
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Hey blackhawk...agree completely and yup, I was purposeful in not getting specific on diets. Can almost be a religion for some and a very emotional topic!
Absolutely! Just sharing what works for my boy!
 
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